Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked,
or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to
Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original
and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you
and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not
violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help
ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer.
However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or
to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the
information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its
sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the
review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.

- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly
those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com
also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.

Angel

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted July 21, 2014

Archer

Ummm no . Gtg

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted July 19, 2013

Unforgetable story, with a grea twist

If you liked the movie Unbreakable by M. Night Shamalan, this is right up your alley. A great mix of gritty realism and the fantastic.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

SpruceBruce

Posted May 7, 2012

This was a very referencey book: the constant mention of street

This was a very referencey book: the constant mention of street names and landmarks may be annoying if you aren't familiar with Boerum Hill. If you know the area, however, it does make the book feel extra special.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted August 17, 2006

Not memorable

This book was okay, but not excellent. This plot has all the right ingredients for an amazing book, but i felt like there was something missing. i really enjoyed how the author described the setting and actions of the characters in the first part of the book. But i didn't really like how in the third section of this novel the author switches from the 3rd person view to a 1st person view. By doing this, I didn't really feel a connection to the character like i think i should have. Also, (and this is just my opinion) i think that there was to much drugs in this story. I understand that some drug use had to be put in there to emphasize the surroundings and stuff but i felt that there was an overload of drug use. But i guess over all this novel was ok.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted September 24, 2006

Good

Great book, very rich in details. It really does send one back into their childhood! The only thing I didn't like too much about this book was the excessive mention of drug use.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted March 28, 2006

A true Disappointment

Having read and loved Motherless Brooklyn I was eager to read this book. I got through about 100 pages of Fortress of Solitude and just gave up in frustration. The writing is burdened with way too many tedious metaphors making it a needlessly complicated read. The writer indulges, for unknown reasons, in what appears to be some type of writing school exercise- burying his story line. After digging through to reacquire the story line for the umpteenth time I just gave up on the book. I am truly disappointed. The book seems to be written by someone trying to prove some writing skill, and not tell a story. Too bad! I I have spent the better part of two decades here in Brooklyn too andliked the locales named. Oh well- GO FIGURE!!!!

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted April 11, 2004

An incredible journey

I loved this book and was saddened when the story ended. This is a story of a boy - but it is also a story of gentrification, racism, urban life, the destructive powers of drugs, the loneliness of childhood, friendship, enemies, imagination...the list can go on and on. Suffice it to say, this novel is rich. I could not stop reading this book. It will bring you back to childhood feelings - to the feeling of loneliness, confusion, isolation, feeling of not being heard, impotence - but there is also a sense of redemption, of growth and of change. I live in the area of Brooklyn where the novel takes place, and walking down these streets is never the same after reading this book.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted March 11, 2004

A compelling, thought-provoking read

This book is like no other I've ever read - the style, the format, everything is unique. In fact, the way Lethem organizes his book makes it seem as if you're reading three different books. The first is lyrical, almost operatic; you can feel the deep loneliness all these characters experience and the pain they all feel from this sense of isolation. The second, a short linear notes section, gives you a brief history into what happened to some of the characters. And the third is more dialogue-based, more grounded in reality, giving us a sense of both resolution and open-endedness. What's remarkable about this book is how Lethem is able to express that, while these characters are in many ways very different from each other, they all share the commonalty of being alone. Exploring the implications of gentrification, differences in the black and white experience, and the drug boom, Lethem shows two friends - Mingus and Dylan - and their journey through childhood up to adulthood. What makes this book so special is that I rode an emotional rollercoaster while reading this: at times hilarious and sad, there were moments when I felt both hope and bleakness simultaneously. If you want to have some food for thought, read this book!

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted October 4, 2003

Excellent

Touching, compelling, fascinating.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted October 2, 2003

Valiant, great first half

I consider Mr. Lethem the standard bearer for insightful, historic novels. I just wanted to say that the first part of this book made me relive the time of my childhood and the anxieties I went through. The characters are like those I grew up with and the problems they are challenged with ring true. I believe the first part of the Novel up to and including 'Liner Notes' is the finest writing I have read in many years. There was like a song beat within the dialogue that drove you forward. I can't describe it any better. Having said all that, after 'Liner Notes', the beat went away and I felt like I did not have the same urgency. I do think the pace change was intended to indicate the changing nature and ambiguity of Dylan's memories of his past but it became a chore to read the rest. Mr. Lethem, I really liked the book but I felt like you were trying to answer all the questions about Dylan and his past when your readers would have been served by their own conclusions.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted September 30, 2003

MR AND MRS GENE SHAW

LOVED IT!

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

Anonymous

Posted October 5, 2003

Fortress Opened Up My Solitude

This is a beautifully written book that captures the middle earth that was Brooklyn in the 1970s in an eerily exact way. A book to be treasured and reread over the years.

Was this review helpful? YesNoThank you for your feedback.Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.